Gender Socially Constructed Essay

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This essay will examine and explore how people view gender. Drawing on how gender may be socially constructed, challenged and changing. Gender is socially constructed over time and as an individual grows different aspects of their gender development are altered and tested. Gender identity is not a fixed mannerism; rather, it is socially constructed and may change as an individual grows and becomes more educated (Diamond and Butterworth, 2008). As an individual grows up he/she is expected to conform to the stereotypical gender categories. For example, when an individual goes to secondary school he/she is expected to alter (if necessary) their appearance to fit in with the stereotypical appearances of their peers e.g. girls having long hair and boys having short. Due to this both male and female individuals take part in policing gender boundaries through bullying, male individuals normally bully both genders where as female individuals usually only target other females. When male individuals bully female individuals it is normally due to the males wanted to assert their authority and masculinity over the females through being …show more content…

Gender is shaped in a persons social interactions, how someone talks to people and how they greet them, what interpersonal signals they give etc. Sex category is the presumed sex of a person, whether someone is male or female based on his or her genitals when born. Men and women behave essentially different from each other, as this is what they are brought up to do from a young age. Sex category is different from gender as gender is whether someone behaviours feminine or masculine in social situations. Gender is something that we have twisted to fit into our own definition, if we see an individual doing something that did not fit into their gender role then we would see that individual as breaking the boundaries of the social

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